“I think it’s unfair to speak about the Scottish manager thing. It’s a hard league to get into. You need to get a team up from the Championship, or more or less people bring in foreign managers.

“The team that might win the Premier League this year have got a British manager, Brendan Rodgers. I really get on well with him. I don’t think people can turn around and talk about the Scottish thing, I think that’s unfair and a bit critical really.

“If you look at them, David Moyes is an incredible football manager, Malky at Cardiff, Kenny up at Liverpool, Big Al here, myself, Stevie Clarke did a great job at West Brom.

“Football nowadays, whether you get the results or don’t, you can lose your job in the blink of an eye. If people say Scottish managers that’s really harsh and you’re going down a dangerous route.”